Car-fender



3 Shets-Sheet 2 W. BATTEN.

(No Model.)

GAR FENDER.

7/545; Qua,

ANDREW HGRAHAM. PHOTO-LITHUWASHI N GTDILD C (No Model 3 Sheets- Sheet 3.

W. BATTEN. OAR FENDER.

NQ.;558,'711. PatentedAprQZl, 1896.

Fig--4 [raven Z 7".

WL'tneJJe By W450 6% %%V;z/.

llNrn *rnrns XV ALTER BATTEN, OF BROOKLYN, NEXV YORK.

CAR-FENDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 558,711, dated April21, 1896. Application filed July 3,1895- Serial No. 554,831. (No model-To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VALTER BATTEN, a citi zen of the United States, anda resident of the city of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOar-Fenders; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full andexact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, making a partof this specification.

My invention relates to life-guards and fenders for street-railroad carsand its object is the protection of human life and the prevention ofinjury to a human being who may accidentallybe struck bya carwhile inmotion.

The great favor in which electrically-propelled cars are now held andthe high speed which theyattain, especially on the outskirts of smalltowns, have necessitated the adoptionof the best means for preventinginjury to life and limbs of pedestrians. Devices to attain this end arenumerous, but have hitherto been found to act slowly, or to be otherwiseinefficient, or to be in the way when not in operation. The storage ofcars at night where room is restricted and the coupling together of twoor more cars while on the road, and, furthermore, the inability to givesufficient attention and care to fenders necessitate that a thoroughlyconvenient form must be given to such devices, so that they may bereadily gotten out of the way and their construction so carried out thatcareful attendance to them will not be required. In certain cities,moreover, there exist municipal laws prohibiting life-guards frompossessing only the object of preventing human beings from getting underthe wheels and making it imperative that the life-guards shall bedesigned with the end in View of keepin g persons from even fallingunder the car-platform. On the other hand, it will readilybe imaginedthat a device which normally projects beyond the front platform of a carwill be found excessively inconvenient when the car is sent into thecrowded car-shed or when two cars are to be coupled together.Furthermore, its construction, beside being strong and durable, shouldbe simple and inexpensive without detaching from its efficiency as apreventive of accidents.

One embodiment of my invention, which will be more particularlydescribed hereinafter, comprises a carriage adapted to slide on guideslongitudinal to the length of the car and held back against the pressureof helical springs by a latch which may be operated by means of a rodending in a buffer which projects beyond the front platform should thebuffer meet with an obstruction on the track. To the carriage is swung afender, which normally remains in a horizontal position under thecar-platform, but which will be propelled forward and whose front endwill fall to the ground when the carriage is released, whereby anyobstruction on the track will be taken up on the fender and preventedfrom getting under the car.

Furthermore, my invention comprises means for preventing the accidentalrelease of and for locking the carriage, so that the car may be coupledto another car or safely and conveniently run into the car-shed, whichmeans may be the hinging of the bulfenrod to allow of its front orbuffer end being raised and therefore put out of the way when not in useand, furthermore, it comprises means for the release of the carriage bythe driver or motorman when an accident is feared and when there is timefor direct action.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the devicesecured in position on the under side of a car. Fig. 2 is a sectionalside view of the same, showing the pivoted fender thrown forward. Fig. 3is a sin1ilar view showing the fender when in a retracted position. Fig.i is aback view of the same.

To the under side or bottom 1 of the car or car-platform 2 are bolted orotherwise secured two downwardly-projecting standards 3, located one infront of the other and longitudi nally to the car itself. The standardscarry two longitudinal guide-rods at,whose ends may be attached to themby nuts, as at 5, or in any other convenient way. The front and backstandards have also 111 gs 6, provided with apertures for the receptionof the buffer-rods, the front standard having the lugs 7, in which isjournaled the shaft of a front pulley, and the rear standard having theforwardly-extending stoppiece 8 with step 9. The bufferrods l0,which areadapted to slide in the front and back standard-1n gs, may beconveniently connected together to form a buffer-frame by the rearcross-piece 11 and by the buffer 12, which is located on the front ofthe car, and also by the middle cross-piece 13. The carriage 14 isconstructed with the view of econoinizin g weight, as shown in Fig. 1,in the form of an open frame, having a rearwardly-eX- tending part 15and a lug 16 on each side. The lugs project rearwardly by means ofcappieces 17, which avoid to a certain extent the rocking of thecarriage and prevent the same from being jammed when the fender is set.

The front of the carriage is provided with lugs 18, in which isjournaled the fender or life-guard 19, and which is constructed of aframe 20, covered with a netting and curved downwardly, as at 21,upwardly, as at 22, and again downwardly, as at 23, and ending at thefront bar 24, which carries the track-rollers 25, adapted to run on thetrack when the fender is down.

The fender is provided with a rear crossbar 26, whose ends are bent atright angles in the form of pintles 27 and enter the eyes of the lugs18, whereby the fender may swing downward by its own weight. This rearcross-bar has also a rearwardly-projecting piece or detent 28, ending ina plate 29, by means of which the carriage will be prevented from movingbackward when an obstacle has been struck.

It will be understood that the rear bar of the fender or cradle ispivoted to the carriage and has rigidly attached to it a detentbar,which extends back of the pivotal point and which will therefore swingupward when the front of the fender swings downward. In front of thecarriage-lugs are the bufferwashers 30 to prevent too great a shock whenthe carriage is propelled forward, and-to propel the carriage forwardare the helical or coiled springs 31 on the guide-rods 4, im pinging onthe carriage-lugs.

The rear standard may be cast in such a form that the stop 32 isprovided and the bosses 33 for the reception of a pin 34,0n which rocksthe latch 35, and also the boss 36 for the other end of the pin, thesaid pin also carrying the rear pulley 37. The latch is formed, asshown, with a hook 38 and jaws 39 and 40, and it is pivoted at 41 sothat it will remain in position either thrown forward or backward. Forthe purpose, however, of causing it to maintain a backward positionthere is attached to it a short length of chain 42, which connects it tothe rear cross-piece 11 of the buffer-frame 43.

For the purpose of retaining the bufferframe in such a position that itsrear crosspiece will be behind the latch 35, or more particularlybetween the arms of the jaws 39 and 40, and so that when the fender ispushed back or set that act will move the buffer-frame forward and placethe said rear cross-piece in front of the latch-arm, there is providedan endless chain 44, which travels over the front pulley 45 (the latterbeing carried by the front standard) and the rear pulley 37, and isactuated by forward or backward motion of the carriage.

The buffer-rods 10 may be jointed at 46, permitting the buffer 12 to bebent upward and under the front netting 47 of the dashboard 48, whichmay be provided with hooks 49 at its lower corners for attachment toeyes 50 of the dashboard. A chain 51 is provided on each side of thebuffer attached to the front of the car, whereby if a person should bemissed by the buffer itself the latter will be drawn back by the weighton the chains and the fender be released.

On the front platform andin a convenient position to be reached by thefoot of the motorman I provide a device for releasing the fender atwill. This may comprise a bellcrank lever 52, located beneath theplatform and adapted to be engaged by a removable pin 53, having a headon which the foot may be pressed. hen this is done, the lever will forceback the buffer-frame by engagement with the middle cross-piece 13, andthe release of the carriage will then be accomplished without theinterposition of an obstacle on the track.

The front of the buffer may be provided with a soft cushion 54, as alsothe frame of the fender, and a netting 55 be placed vertically under theplatform.

In operation the fender is set by forcing back the fender against thepressure of the helical springs, care being taken to raise the forwardend of the same, whereby the detent is swung downward and out ofengagement with the steps of the stop-piece 8. The hook of thetumbler-latch having been carried over by the rear cross-piece 11 willfall over the rear end of the carriage 15, and as this is beingaccomplished the chain will draw out the buffer. Should an obstacle bemet by the buffer, a very slight pressure will cause it to move back,when the rear cross-piece of the buffer-frame will operate the latch andthe carriage will be thrown forward.

It will be evident that if an obstacle should be met by the fender atany point before it has reached its full forward movement thedetent-plate 29 will fall into one of the steps 9, when any rearwardtendency of the fender will be stopped and the obstacle or person willbe carried along by the fender.

The arrangement of the chains, the form and location of the detent andsteps, the form of the latch, and of the buffer-frame, and of thecarriage and fender may readily be changed, and I desire, therefore, notto be restricted to the precise construction or arrangement hereinshown, this embodiment of my invention being but a preferred form whichmay be modified without departing from the spirit of my invention.

hat I claim is- 1. In a device for saving life, the combinaunder the carupon a frame rigidly secured to said car, springs for propelling thecarriage forward, a tumbler-latch pivoted to said frame and adapted toengage the rear end of the carriage, and a stop-piece, of the fenderpivoted to said carriage andprovided with a delatch, a buffer, and abuffer rod or frame jointed near the forward end, and a chain secured tothe latch and to the buffer rod or frame, substantially as described.

3. In a device for saving life, the combination with a car, a carriageadapted to slide under the car upon a frame rigidly secured to said car,springs for propelling the carriage forward, a tumbler-latch pivoted tosaid frame and adapted to engage the rear end of the carriage, and astop-piece, of a fender pivoted to said carriage, and provided with adetent-bar extending back of the pivotal point of the carriage, andadapted to engage the said stop-piece, a jointed buifer rod or rodsadapted to slide in said frame, and an endless chain secured to thecarriage and to the buffer-rod whereby When the said carriage ispropelled backward the said buffer-rod will be propelled forward,substantially as described.

4. In a device for saving life, the combination with a car and a fender,of a carriage to which said fender is pivoted and adapted to bepropelled forward, a spring or springs for so propelling said carriage,a tumbler-latch, a bell-crank lever located near the front of the car, aremovable pin to engage said lever, and intermediate means between saidlever and the latch whereby the said latch may be operated,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification. in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WVALTER BATTEN.

